Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Unit Size [was Private home dishwasher: 18 vs 24 inch

[Diana Carroll (dianaecarroll]

On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 9:54 AM, Sharon Villines
<sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>wrote:

> I find it uncomfortable to have one or a few of the same people in the CH
> all the time.


Sharon, last time we discussed common house usage, you mentioned that your
CH had no spaces that could be closed off.  If this is true, I think it's
worth pointing this out when comparing your CH usage with others'.  I think
that has a huge impact on how the CH would be used; and for a group still
working on their design, it's an important design factor to consider.

Here at Mosaic Commons, our CH is about 4000 sq ft, and all spaces can be
closed from other spaces.  (All the doors have windows with the exception
of the guest rooms.)  We have a large dining room (where all our meals, big
meetings and community-wide social events are held), a small "niche" off
the dining room that is open during big events but at other times can be
closed off for smaller gatherings, a living room/movie/library room with
couches, a kids' room, and a "multi-purpose" room that can be rearranged
for everything from ping-pong to a knitting circle.  (We have other spaces,
too, that are special use like the gym, music room, workshop and kitchen,
which aren't generally used for social purposes or other purposes.)

So we can potentially have 5 groups together simultaneously without
affecting one another, plus one or two individuals in the guest rooms
(which double as "hobby rooms"), gym, etc.

Given that architecture, I think you might feel less discomfort with "the
same people in the CH all the time".

The CH being designed in Vancouver is 50% larger than ours (WOW!) so I
imagine with some thoughtful architectural choices they could accommodate a
very wide range of usage without people often stepping on each others' toes.